No jokes this time. No, today is not a time for comedy. It is a time for great celebration indeed. Bionicle, after a five-year absence, is returning. ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN! CHOO CHOO! Yep, it’s finally happening. First Ninjago, now Bionicle. THANK YOU LEGO. YOU ARE AWESOME. Who cares if it uses the new building system. Who cares if we are seeing the Toa Mata AGAIN. Bionicle isn’t about that. Well, it sort of is, but that’s not the point. You know what made Bionicle better. THE STORY. And now that Bionicle is back, the story shall follow. It will be awesome. Gentlemen, the hype train has started and someone has stolen the driver’s Kanohi of braking.

About this creation

All right, sorry for that weird intro. Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS, EVAN BOTKIN. You’ve won the guessing contest, which means that the Transformer that goes beside Soundwave in this MOC is Grimlock! I’ll invite you to a private group in a day or two and send you a link to Brickshelf where the LDD is waiting. So, what’s the deal with these two? Well, I thought that since I’ve now made Starscream and Bumblebee, who were previous failures, I’d make Soundwave. There’s just one problem: it’s too small to make cassettecons. So, what did I do? I made it so that they were instead Minicon triple-changers. Lazerbeak transforms from a bird to a gun, and Ravage transforms from Panther to a claw weapon. Also, both of them become different chest-pieces that Soundwave can use (one at a time, of course). Grimlock becomes a T-Rex, obviously. His proportions are actually closer to that of an actual T-Rex, rather than the cartoonish proportions of G1 Grimlock. Some may argue that it’s similar to the Michael Bay version in the proportions, but that’s only because Bay was probably doing the same thing. Who cares anyway? This isn’t Bayformers; it’s G1. Let’s begin.

Grimlock: Hm? What do puny human want?
Declan: I’ve got a question.
Grimlock: Question about?
Declan: Transformers, Age of Extinction. You know, the one you were in?

Grimlock: Me Grimlock hate Michael Bay. He make me bozo. ME GRIMLOCK NO BOZO, ME KING.
Declan: Well, at least you transformed. Many of the other characters either had that cuby-thingy or just transformed of off-screen.
Grimlock: But me Grimlock no speak!
Declan: Listen, can I just ask you the question?
Grimlock: Hmph.
Declan: Why was Optimus Prime riding you?

Optimus Prime: Grimlock! The Decepticons are hiding just west of here. We’re the closest to them. Transform and roll out!
Declan: Oh you mean Spectre?

Optimus Prime: There’s no time to lose. Hurry!
Declan: You do realise that Spectre is in a completely different scale to you guys. All he has to do is step on you.
Grimlock: Me Grimlock love challenge.
Declan: Stop quoting the 80’s movie, please.
Optimus Prime: Hurry up and transform!

Grimlock: ME GRIMLOCK NO LIKE RIDING! BAY IS IDIOT! G1 ONLY!
Optimus Prime: At least you transformed more than once.
Declan: At least you got a sort-of G1 mode.
Optimus Prime: It was rusty! That’s a metaphor for saying all the old G1 fanbase is old geezers!

Soundwave: Status of my presence in comic: absent. Comic: inferior. Soundwave superior.
Declan: Oh shut up!
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In case you were wondering what the moral of the comic was, it’s that Michael Bay’s movies suck. What the comic doesn’t tell you is that they’re still enjoyable. It’s kinda like McDonalds. It’s really bad food, but you like it anyway…
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Anyway, let’s start with Grimlock. This guy doesn’t really need an introduction, as everyone knows who he is.

What’s really cool with this guy is how the arms become the legs. I wanted to mirror the original in that sense. I suppose I did in the end.

In robot mode, I tried to make all the kibble go where it went in the G1 cartoon. Once again, it worked.

The way this Transformer is set out is kinda strange. The chest is made up of a rocking hinge, which I haven’t really done before. There’s also a few hinges here and there that allow for the build to stay together, and can move, but have no reason to do so. Oh well, if it looks like Grimlock and transformers like Grimlock, it works.

At the back, you can see he has his ‘wings’ and ‘backpack head’ from G1.

He also comes with a sword, which is formed from his detaching tail.
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Now, the following photos are not mine, but they are my design. Evan Botkin ended up building the MOC in real life and he placed it in one of his MOCs. I just thought I’d show it so that you can see what it looks like.

Make sure you check out the MOC HERE to get him more likes. And while you’re at it, let him know I sent you. :)

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Now, onto Soundwave. Soundwave transforms into a box. Well, it’s not really a box; it’s a cassette player, but you get the point.

Whenever it comes to Soundwave, none of the toys really transform the same. The only constant between them is how the legs split apart. Well, they sort of do that here, but not really.

At the back, you can see what I’m referring to. The legs fold all the way around.

For robot mode, it follows the similar approach I take for all my G1 Micro MOCs.

The arms are a bit short and oddly placed, but they work better for the weapon holding.

Just a quick view from the back.

Anyway, as extras we have Lazerbeak (or Buzzsaw for those who want to re-colour it in LDD) and Ravage.

Lazerbeak’s first mode is the good-ol’ bird mode.

The second is the chest mode. All you have to do is fold in the wings.

With the peg on the front, Lazerbeak clips to it and becomes a piece of armour.

To get a better view, here’s one from the side.

Lazerbeak’s third and final mode is a gun. This is done by folding in one of the wings 90 degrees and rotating the head.

You can see there that Soundwave holds it like so.

Here’s a view from the other side to see it better.

And finally, we have Ravage. Once again, it’s a triple-changer. It’s first mode is the panther…

…and the second is a claw weapon.

The claw fits on just like the gun did.

And the final mode is the chest mode. I prefer Lazerbeak in chest mode and Ravage in gun mode, but they all work.

I actually designed ravage first, so it does work slightly better. Still, I have my favourites.

Here’s a size comparison to show you what they look like side-by-side and with a minifigure.
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Well, to finish off, here’s the images of the LDD file. Feel free to download Soundwave below.

But as for Grimlock, well unless you’re Evan Botkin, YOU’LL NEVER GET HIM! MWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
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Well, that’s it for now. Coming up, I’ve got a train Transformer (not G1) coming out tomorrow, and sometime later I’ve got a Cave Story MOC coming out. Speaking of which, do you play Cave Story? Let me know in the comment section, or google it. On Mac and PC, it’s free, and it only costs $10 on the 3DS E-Shop. Check it out, and tell me about you adventures with Cave Story in the comment section below.

Quoting Evan Botkin
He Grimlock KING! They all look great. Grimlock will go great with my Optimus Prime. As for Optimus riding him, It looks great as far as cinematics go but as far as accuracy to G1, it was j*nk. Soundwave is awesome (my favorite Decepticon) and I like how the 'cassettes' turn into chest armor and weapons since they can't actual be cassettes because of the scale. I like how Grimlock's tail turns into his sword. Overall, they are great.

He Grimlock KING! They all look great. Grimlock will go great with my Optimus Prime. As for Optimus riding him, It looks great as far as cinematics go but as far as accuracy to G1, it was j*nk. Soundwave is awesome (my favorite Decepticon) and I like how the 'cassettes' turn into chest armor and weapons since they can't actual be cassettes because of the scale. I like how Grimlock's tail turns into his sword. Overall, they are great.